Controlling the radial dynamics of Rydberg wavepackets in Xe using phase-locked optical pulse sequences

We employ a sequence of two phase-locked optical pulses, separated by half a classical orbit period, to control the radial dynamics of electron wavepackets in Xe. We eliminate either even or odd principal quantum number states from the wavepacket and distinguish between these systems by looking at the wavepacket spectrum at different partial revivals. The experimentally observed dynamics are compared with calculations based on multichannel quantum defect theory and the observations are interpreted in terms of the time and phase evolution of the population amplitudes of the Rydberg states contributing to the wavepacket.